MEDIA VITA - Chamber Choir El Grillo - Inge Bollaert

A deadly flu virus and some dramatic crop failures mercilessly wiped out a fifth of the London population around the middle of the sixteenth century. As if that were not enough, the Catholic reign of terror of Mary Tudor also demanded the necessary bloodshed. Life was short, uncertain, and often miserable. Against that background, John Sheppard (ca. 1515-1558) writes one of the most monumental and overwhelming compositions of the entire sixteenth century: Media vita. This rarely performed masterpiece is the spectacular highlight of a haunting polyphonic program about love, death, and transience.